


how love dies is a place that i'm not going

by newsagogo



Series: i didnt know i was broken 'til i wanted to change [2]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Comic)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, vinyl has a brother and this brother WILL make himself your brother if u stand still long enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:42:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newsagogo/pseuds/newsagogo
Summary: There's a lot to do in the wrecks of a company who tried to control it all and the echos of people you lost. in the midst of this, Vinyl tells his brother of all the things he missed.
Relationships: Vinyl & Original Characters, Vinyl & Vamos & Vaya (Fabulous Killjoys), Vinyl/Volume (Fabulous Killjoys)
Series: i didnt know i was broken 'til i wanted to change [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871935
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	how love dies is a place that i'm not going

**Author's Note:**

> its a series now i have no self control.   
> title is from Shadow by Bleachers  
> server of colour this ones for you guys and the rest of the vinyl appreciation society

  
  


Everyone refers to things as Before and After. Vinyl splits his time After into three sections. [°°°]

The first is reconnection. His brother is back after all, with some memories covered in static and blocked out in the ink of a corporation desperate to control every thought. Vinyl brings him to what's left of childhood hideouts and hums mostly forgotten tunes and his brother slowly unearths his memories of life Before, waiting patiently for each recollection. He doesn't want to force an image of what his brother should be and takes care to avoid pushing old habits onto him. He reads out well-wishes from Vamos and gentle mockery from Vaya and he spots the folded letters left for them pinned to the sides of mailboxes.

His brother remembers his name in his own time _("we were vinyl and… cassette, right? you'd call me cass more"_ ), by which point Vinyl knows that it's time to move on. He dyes his hair, and lets himself feel. His brother relearns answering to Cass, and being a person again. It's a difficult process, made easier with each other there.

* * *

  
  


The second part is, simply, exploration The zones changed in the years that Cass was gone, and the things that stayed the same feel foreign with different faces leading them. Vinyl tells him of the Ultra Vs and Cass asks for the importance of purple to Vinyl. Vinyl tells him of pink and blue and the white they'd rush after and watch.

They visit old haunts and Vinyl traces a nail over every scratched " _volume+vinyl_ " he finds as he tells the events and nonevents the Vs had in these transient spaces. He talks of the permanence in the little things, the signs everyone left to prove they were there. By buildings with violet speakers sprayed on the side, Cass listens to stories of pale anger diffused by louder colors and the maximum numbers of times you can be thrown out of Tommy’s before he puts a sign up. When they camp near a mailbox, Vinyl whispers of a man who cared more than any he knew, first to jump in to a clap to help, the only thing brighter than the purple of his hair being the way he smiled at him. If Vinyl's voice wavers, Cass only moves closer and keeps an arm around him until the shaking subsides. 

As they pass through each zone and every area of importance Vinyl can think of, he keeps up a not quite constant stream of explanations. The wall of photos and sketches in zone four and the names sprayed across walls in remembrance to those already carried by the Witch, The cold spots of zone five and the spirits who keep watch, the lone figures darting between buildings and people (" _the… Interns?_ "). The ever-wandering Historians who stop them in-between five and six, who coax the story of Volume from him and swear to keep it safe. The two of them leave with a bundle of ponchos from them as a gift, to share among the group that gathered throughout the sibling's journey. Cass smiles as the group grows over the weeks, asking questions and listening to every word Vinyl gives, their eagerness to learn about this new world open to them near-overwhelming at times. 

* * *

Vinyl is finding his feet in this life, when Velocity stumbles back in.

* * *

The third part is unnamed, it’s still happening after all. Once the anger leaves, when all that's left is simmering resentment, Vinyl travels with his impromptu group to the edges of zone seven. He leaves a message to be sent to the twins who are back in the city, sure to be the next place Velocity ends up. He keeps the event out of his mind, and works to help the gaggle of ex-citygoers and the recently un-dracced to learn about the ways out in the desert. He teaches them what a mailbox means, the masks that hold your very essence, and the Witch who keeps them safe. 

Vinyl knows that distance is needed, and he settles near the furthest edge of the zones. His brother takes to travelling, returning from sudden trips to the city laden with trinkets from Vamos and whatever plant of the week Vaya was optimistic about. Cass is easily taken by the two of them, and seems happy with the sudden appearance of new siblings in his life. Vinyl realises as more people seek him out that he's taken the role of a mentor for many in this After, that as the old traditions are blended with new ones he’s the one who can always explain. Masks remain, but the fear of them being taken is less. Killjoys fade but stay remembered, and the old title of zonerunner takes its place. 

_ Vinyl dreams of a man who knew all that happened in the zones and mentored so many wishing him well, he wakes surrounded by feathers and with the echo of wheels in his ears.  _

Velocity becomes Val becomes a friend becomes someone Vinyl trusts again and someone completely unaware of Cass trying to add him to the list of younger siblings to dote on. He sees The Girl and a woman she calls mother from time to time, and learns their names. Their interactions become less stilted as Val takes up delivery and makes amends, and Vinyl teaches and passes on the knowledge learned in the zones to those who ask. He is confident and he is patient, with ex-citizens and young zonekids and regretful scarecrows alike. Watching the ways of a new world form in front of him, he thinks this is why when the borders of the furthest zones reach out and find not only more people, but every Killjoy’s feared bogeyman, he stays calm. People look to Vinyl for guidance when they need it, and when could they need it more than when Korse returns?

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on @killjoynest im doin my best here i WILL write about all the Vs and uh. haha surprise at the end (:


End file.
